A convicted murderer stabbed a female guard to death at an east Arkansas prison Friday when she went into his cell to investigate whether he had an unauthorized pair of shoes, a prison spokeswoman said.

Sgt. Barbara Easter was stabbed in the side, abdomen and chest at about 12:30 p.m. Friday, said Shea Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Correction. Easter died at about 3 p.m. at a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., about 40 miles away.

Easter, a 12-year veteran of the correction department, was a property officer who investigated whether inmates had contraband items.

"This is obviously very difficult for the department when something tragic like this happens," Wilson said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Sgt. Easter's family. These officers — it's a tight-knit workplace. They look out for each other and are there together for a lot of hours of the day, so this is very difficult for everyone."

Wilson said the prison wasn't locked down after the attack and that the inmate will be moved to the state's maximum-security unit at Varner. The inmate was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder.